Merck Seeks Dismissal of Vioxx Suit

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SHLAND, Ala., April 26 (AP) - Lawyers for Merck & Company asked a judge to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday, contending the woman who said the pain reliever Vioxx caused her husband's death lied and committed fraud against the court.

Seeking to shelve the first Vioxx suit set for trial, a Merck attorney, Mike Brock, said the medicine that Cheryl Rogers claimed her husband, Brad, took did not even leave the company until six months after he died.

But lawyers for Mrs. Rogers told Judge John E. Rochester of Circuit Court they had expert medical testimony stating that Vioxx caused the death.

Judge Rochester said he would rule by the end of the week. A May 23 trial date has been set.

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., withdrew Vioxx from the market last September after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients taking the drug for more than 18 months.